Bible Doctrine

It was to Israel the Lord was speaking in Deuteronomy Chapter 28, when He warned, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that ALL these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee…..” Now read the next 53 verses. These curses were pronounced upon Israel generations prior to the division of Israel into two kingdoms. Therefore these curses applied to ALL Israel. The blessings cited in verses 1 through 14 were guaranteed to Israel if obedient. “All these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, IF thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God….The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, IF thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways” (See Deuteronomy 28:2 and 9).

“This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments. And to make thee high above all nations, which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honor, and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken” (Deuteronomy 26:16-19).

But God is not so foolish as to keep a promise to those who forsake Him and turn to idols: “Wherefore the Lord thy God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever, but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (I Samuel 2:30).

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee. He will be with thee. He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8). But keep reading, friend, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, AND I WILL FORSAKE THEM, and I will hide myself face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?” (verse 17, Deuteronomy 31). To be continued in Part 3.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Down through the centuries, especially the last two centuries, men have arisen certain of fleshly Israel’s whereabouts. Many pamphlets and booklets have been written, some of them going so far as to precisely identify where each of the individual ten tribes were now located confidently declaring Ephraim is Great Britain, Manasseh is the United States, Reuben is France, Dan is Denmark, etc. Entirely new denominations of Christianity have been founded upon the speculations of various men insisting God had revealed to them the modern day location of the “lost” ten tribes!

For the moment, let’s set aside any comment about the southern kingdom of Judah and focus our attention solely on the northern kingdom of Israel (Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Reuben and Zebulun) for it was the northern kingdom of Israel God divorced. (See Jeremiah 3:8). And, though, God invited Israel to return to Him, saying, “Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord, for I am married unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (See Jeremiah 3:14), still Israel never returned to God. Continue reading the remaining 49 chapters of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Israel never returns to God but rather goes deeper and deeper into willful sin, becoming further and further estranged from God thereby warranting cursing from God, not blessing! Jeremiah does speak of a yet FUTURE restoration of Israel, but such is indeed prophesied to occur in the future.

Due to Judah’s prolonged sin, God warns those of the southern kingdom, “I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren (the ten tribes of the northern kingdom), even the whole seed of Ephraim (the ruling house of that kingdom)” (See Jeremiah 7:15). But Judah was cast out for seventy years only! At the conclusion of the seventy years of captivity in Babylon God caused Judah to be released from their captivity and returned to their homeland. Not true with Israel. After being taken into captivity by Assyria, Israel – the ten tribed northern kingdom – never returned to their homeland. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I will feed them, even this people (yes, my beloved and chosen Israel), with wormwood, and give them gall to drink. I WILL SCATTER THEM ALSO AMONG THE HEATHEN (not keep them intact as a distinguishable people) whom neither they nor their fathers have known, AND I WILL SEND A SWORD AFTER THEM, TILL I HAVE CONSUMED THEM!” (See Jeremiah 9:15-16). And nowhere does it say, or even imply, that after seventy years, or any other limited period of time, would God visit them, forgive them and heap upon them blessing upon blessing.

In order to keep this posting from running into several lengthy pages, I will ask my reader to now read the entirety of the 11th chapter of Jeremiah. Note well the 10th verse: “They (the men of Judah) are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.” “The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them. Judah shall be carried away captive all of it. It shall be wholly carried away captive” (Jeremiah 13:19). But, again, Judah’s captivity was to last only 70 years, “For thus says the Lord that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts I have toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you” (Jeremiah 29:10-12).

Speaking of the ruling tribe of the house of Israel, and by implication, the entire house of Israel, God said of them through the prophet Hosea, “They have deeply corrupted themselves….therefore he will remember their iniquity. He will visit their sins” (See Hosea 9:9). And, if one will only let the prophet Hosea speak, this inspired prophet tells us exactly what happened to the “lost” ten tribes of Israel and, friend, therein do we find that God meant exactly what He said as recorded in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. You might want to read the entirety of that chapter before reading Part 2 of “O Israel, Where Art Thou?” And God help you to understand.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

“And who is like your people Israel, THE ONE NATION on the earth whom God went to redeem for himself as a people – to make for yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt” (I Chronicles 17:21). For many long centuries God simply ignored all other nations, sending them no prophets, making no effort whatsoever to reveal Himself to them.

“For yours are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

“He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgements to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; and as for His judgements they have not known them” (Psalm 147:19-20). There was no Egyptian, Assyrian or Babylonian Moses. Those nations had no Book of the Law, no Psalmist, no Elijah or weeping Jeremiah!

“In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel (and nowhere else). In Salem is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion” (Psalm 76:1-2). When Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh’s court and told Pharaoh, “Thus saith, the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go,” Pharaoh spoke the utter truth when he replied, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go. I KNOW NOT THE LORD, neither will I let Israel go” (See Exodus 5:1-2). Even Moses didn’t know who the Lord was, telling God “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, ‘The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,’ and they shall say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say unto them?” (See Exodus 3:13).

“Truly God is good to Israel” (Psalm 73:1). Many forget, if they have ever come to understand that “salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8). God calls all the shots in this matter of granting eternal life and immortality to members of the human family. In every sense of the word, He is “the Lord (or master) of the harvest” of salvation. (See Matthew 9:38). All of God’s true spokesmen – both prophets and apostles – have understood this, as well as every truly anointed teacher of the Word of God. Moses understood this great truth early on and was not one bit perplexed or confused about the fairness and justice of God when charging Israel, “but of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, YE SHALL LET NOTHING THAT BREATHES REMAIN ALIVE, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you…” (Deuteronomy 20:16-17). The command was all inclusive. All were to die: infants, children, grandmothers, the blind, the infirm – “let nothing that breathes remain alive!”

Most it seems, who read such words rush past them as though they were intruding on a dark side of God – a side of God that cannot be explained. After all it is apparent that God is ordering the execution of not only hardened and jaded adults, but also the death of infants, small children and elderly grandparents! Of course the problem with most is that they don’t understand what Moses fully understood. Moses had already been given the basic knowledge of God’s plan of the ages, for the author of Psalm 90 was Moses, who wrote, “You turn man to destruction, and (later) say, ‘Return O children of men (that is, return to life via a resurrection); for a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past (to us humans), and like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood (swiftly); They are like (one) asleep (as they shall be awakened at God’s appointed time via a resurrection)” (Psalm 90:3-5).  God has a plan, folks, and a wondrous plan it is.  God help you to understand.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

I was just playing that song, The Love of God, on my keyboard.  I wish I could convey to all whom I ever meet just how great is the love of God for the human race, “for God so loved the human race that He gave His Only Begotten Son” to buy us back from Satan’s enslavement.  He is not willing that ANY human being should perish and lose out on eternal life.  He’s got a plan, and what a marvelous, carefully thought out plan it is.   Abraham understood this plan.  So did Moses – that is why Moses could so easily tell the Israeli armies to spare neither infant nor suckling when destroying the pagan cities that had spread across Canaan.  No human being was to be spared.  Because God had a plan – a plan Moses, the meekest man who had ever lived up to that point, a plan he understood.  He knew that God planned a resurrection for all and would bring them back to life in a far better world, a world where Satan could deceive them no more.  Living in poverty and squalor, a life of misery and pain, disease and premature death, these beloved creatures of the Most High God had their lives taken swiftly and, yes, mercifully.  Because God had a plan.  And Moses understood that plan.  He knew that someday every last one of them will hear the same words Lazarus of old heard, “Come forth!”  And they will arise from the dust and be given a long, long lifespan in God’s utopian kingdom and THEN offered the gift of God’s Holy Spirit and with it eternal life, immortality, life unending.

Moses is credited with writing one Psalm and one Psalm only – the 90th Psalm.  In that Psalm Moses wrote: “You turn man to destruction, and say, ‘Return, ye children of men.'” (verse 3).  Using the Israelite armies, God annihilated  tens of thousands of pagan peoples, but Moses understood God’s plan was to bring them back to life again in a far different world than that which they had known.  Continuing with this Psalm of Moses, we read: “For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” (verse 4).  Since, in death, there is no knowledge of passing time, no day and night, seasons and years, these pagan nations instantly die and instantly return to life regardless of how the living observe and reckon time!  Continuing with verses 5 and 6, “Thou carry them away as with a flood; they are as asleep.  In the morning they are like grass which grows up.  In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut down, and withers.”  Their time on earth is short and soon ended.  But that is not the end of the story.  They will someday come forth in a great resurrection, returning to physical life and given the opportunity to THEN join the great eternal family of God.

If preachers would just read the Hebrew prophets, believing what they read, they would know why scripture affirms God IS love!  And they, too, would see what Moses saw and would glorify God for His great goodness, His fairness, and His awesome plan of the ages

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

In the 18th chapter of 2 Kings, it is written of King Hezekiah that “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him (that would, of course, include King David – one whom scripture calls ‘a man after God’s own heart’). For he clave (remained faithful) to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth…” (see verses 5-7, 2 Kings 18).

In the 39th year of King Hezekiah, we read these words about him: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, came to him and said unto him, ‘Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, ‘I beseech you, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept sore.” (See 2 Kings 20:1-3).

Now note well that the prognosis that King Hezekiah would die was not the prognosis of a mere physician. It was the prognosis of one of God’s most illustrious prophets who actually quotes the Lord, telling King Hezekiah “you shall die, and not live!” Surely all hope of recovery should be abandoned at that point, right? It appears that King Hezekiah had a good understanding of God’s mercy and compassion and willingness to hear and answer the prayers of His faithful followers. He, therefore, does not accept this prognosis as final. He earnestly pleads with the Lord with weeping.

“And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out (of the king’s palace) into the middle court that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto your days fifteen years…'” (See verses 4-6, 2 Kings 20).

Now, of course, if you add fifteen years to the life of a 39 year old king, you quickly discern that King Hezekiah still lived to be only 54 years old. And that tells us something about how God views human life and the length of a human life. To most humans the most critical thing about our lives is the length of our life. One of the greatest blessings afforded us is to live very long lives. But it appears that God looks more at the quality of one’s life rather than the number of our years. And, of course, God knows that when the redeemed die they are but asleep for what, for all purposes, is but a split second, for the very next conscious thought one has is their awakening clothed in immortality, born again in spirit form to live eternally.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man to destruction (by ordering Moses and the Israelite armies to slaughter men and women, infant and suckling), and say, ‘Return (to life again), O children of men.’ For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood; they are like asleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up” (See Psalm 90:1-5).

This is the only Psalm attributed to Moses. Therefore, chronologically, it is the first Psalm to be written. Moses, called the meekest man on earth, was able to carry out God’s orders to slay the inhabitants of the Amorite citiies, leaving none left alive, as He knew and understood God’s great plan of the ages. He sums up this 90th Psalm asking God to “let your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children.” (See verse 16, Psalm 90). Moses desired that all the people fully understand and comprehend what God was doing on this earth, how that He was not merely indiscriminately condemning and killing all pagan peoples of the earth, but that they, too, were in His plan to bring many sons to glory. God is not willing that ANY should perish eternally. Jesus Christ tasted death for every one. Jesus Christ fully intends to give every one born human a marvelous opportunity to avail themselves of the offer of eternal life with Him and His Father. This is a basic truth most “preachers” do not understand.

Remember, “ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.” (See 2 Timothy 3:16). Peter states quite plainly and clearly that the Hebrew prophets wrote unto US – the New Covenant believers – and that Jesus Christ was speaking through them in the things they wrote and recorded. (See I Peter 1:10-13).

The household of God, the body of Christ, the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles AND PROPHETS, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. (See Ephesians 2:19-20). Those denominations that leave the writings of the prophets out of their doctrines and teachings are following that other Jesus Paul warned about! (See 2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Paul goes on to say another “spirit” is at work – not the Holy Spirit – and another “gospel” is preached, that gospel being the bare facts that Jesus died, was buried and rose from the dead! The true gospel of Jesus Christ is found in the following verses of I Corinthians 15, not just the first eight verses. The good news is “For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive!” (verse 22). “And as we have borne the image of the earthly (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Jesus Christ)” (verse 49). When was the last time you heard THAT gospel?

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Determining what God’s Word reveals in the matter of consuming alcoholic beverages can seem a bit daunting to some when they realize that ten different Hebrew words are translated as “wine” in the Old Testament and four different Greek words are translated as “wine” in the New Testament. Though most of these words clearly indicate fermented wine, having an alcoholic content, is being spoken of in the text where they are found some do not.

The Hebrew word most commonly translated as “wine” in the Old Testament is the word yayin (pronounced YAH’ – yin) and does mean fermented, or intoxicating wine. The first occurrence of this word in scripture is found in Genesis 9:21, where we read “And he (Noah) drank of the wine (yayin), and was drunken (Hebrew shikkarown, pronounced shik – kaw – RONE’, meaning intoxicated, drunken). This same word, yayin, is again found in the 19th chapter of Genesis, where the two daughters of Lot in some manner coerced their father to drink this intoxicating beverage in order to make him so drunk he didn’t realize who they were and had sex with them. (See verses 30 through 38).

In Genesis 27, verse 25, we are told that Isaac drank intoxicating wine and, in blessing Esau, he asked God to give Esau plenty of corn and wine (yayin). It is highly doubtful that Isaac would ask God to give Esau something God condemns.

Priests were forbidden to drink intoxicating beverages when going into the tabernacle to perform their priestly duties. (See Leviticus 10:9). Fermented wine was not forbidden them at other times and on other festive occasions. Only those Israelites who took a Nazarite vow were forbidden to drink wine, liquor or strong drinks. (See Numbers 6:1-3), but once the days of their Nazarite vow of separation had been fulfilled “after that the Nazarite may drink wine” (Numbers 6:20).

One of the curses pronounced by God upon the Israelites if they disobeyed Him and broke His commandments or followed after other gods was a curse pronounced upon their vineyards, denying them the wine such vineyards would have produced. (See Deuteronomy 28:39). Again, the word rendered as wine in the above texts is the Hebrew word yayin, fermented, intoxicating wine!

In blessing the Lord for His goodness toward men, the Psalmist wrote,”He waters the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine (yayin) that makes glad the heart of man…” (See Psalm 104:13-15). Grape juice does not produce such an emotion in man. It is fermented wine that tends to put a person at ease and prompt a jovial spirit in the drinker.

But doesn’t the Bible say, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). It is the one who over indulges in wine or strong drink that is deceived thereby. If someone thinks they can drink several glasses of wine and not exhibit the behavior of a drunk, they are deceived. One or two glasses taken with a meal will not cause someone to reel to and fro and spew vomit on the table. It is the drunkard that is depicted in Proverbs 23:29-35.

“Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man” (James 1:13). Now turn to Jeremiah 35. Beginning with verse 1, it says “The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, ‘Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers AND GIVE THEM WINE (YAYIN) TO DRINK!'” If drinking fermented wine is sinful in the eyes of God, then God Himself is guilty of tempting these men to drink wine! “And I (Jeremiah) set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them (at the Lord’s direction), ‘Drink ye wine!’ But they said, ‘We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever..'” (verses 5 and 6).

Actually God was giving the House of Judah an object lesson here. “Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words, says the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons (250 years previously) not to drink wine, are performed, for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment, notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but you have not hearkened unto me. (verses 12 to 14, Jeremiah 35). To be continued…..

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

In the first chapter of his gospel account, the apostle John flatly declares, “No man hath seen God AT ANY TIME, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father (Jesus having already ascended back to heaven and the Father’s side when John wrote his gospel account), He has declared Him.” (See John 1:18). Note that John says Jesus “declared”, or revealed, the Father to mankind. We would have no knowledge of there being another divine being had Jesus not come to earth in the flesh and spoken of Him. And this “God,” this member of the God Family, the One Jesus called the Father has been seen by no man at any time. Not by Adam, or Moses, or Solomon, or David, or Isaiah – by NO MAN! John reveals this same truth again a bit later, quoting Jesus, in the 6th chapter of his gospel account, as having said, “No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draws him, and I will raise him up (from the grave) at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be all taught of God.’ Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes unto me, not that any man has seen the Father, save He which is of God (meaning Himself), He has seen the Father” (verses 44-46).

Remember, scripture plainly reveals that God created all things by Jesus Christ. (See Colossians 1:16 and Ephesians 3:8-9 with Hebrews 1:1-2). If you have read the texts just quoted, then you will have seen that scripture plainly reveals that Jesus Christ is our Creator, as well as our Savior. That is WHY His one life given in sacrifice was sufficient to redeem the whole human race – because He was the Creator of the human race, hence His one life was of more value than all other human lives combined! Had He not been our Creator, had He not been God in human flesh, then His sacrificed life would have been sufficient to buy back and redeem but one other human life. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. The One who created Adam and Eve, as well as all that exists, is the One who also told Adam, “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” (See Genesis 3:19).

John reveals that Jesus is the Spokesman for the God Family. That is why John calls Him “the Word.” Therefore, when the prophets write, “Thus saith the Lord,” they are in reality saying, “Thus says the Lord Jesus Christ!” Read the prophets with that truth in your mind and see how quickly you may have to rethink and reformulate some of your doctrinal beliefs. Thus, the God of Israel is, was and ever shall be Jesus Christ. When Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad,” He meant it. (See John 8:56). Abraham never saw the Father. Never knew there was any such being as the Father. Of course neither did he know that the Eternal God who met and spoke with Him was the Messiah to come, the One who would become the only begotten Son, the One who would die for his sins as well as the sins of the whole world!!! Those who think Jesus is the Father ignore, or are simply unaware of, a host of scriptures in both the Hebrew and Greek testaments.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

“Stephen Hawking, the brilliant atheist is dead!” The headline could have read, “Stephen Hawking, the fool is dead!” For it is the fool that has said in his heart there is no God. I wonder how many people, especially young naive, impressionable, credulous, people Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking convinced that there is no God? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Hawking was given seventy-six years to get it right. He never did. Confined to a wheelchair for many decades, he had plenty of time to think, to reason, to investigate and ponder, but he died an atheist.

Maybe Jesus Christ did have it right when He said “NO MAN (that would include Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan) can come to me except it be granted them by God my Father.” (See John 6:65). Maybe Job was inspired when he said, “Can you by searching find out God?” (See Job 11:7). And the prophet Isaiah most certainly had it right when he said, “Truly, you are a God that hides yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior!” (See Isaiah 45:15).

But why does God do this? After all, if He really and truly desires that NONE perish and that ALL come to repentance, why hide Himself. Why make it so difficult, if not impossible to find Him? Why remain invisible?

Though it is true “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork,” that alone does not put one in touch with God, nor assure the seeker that God desires to fellowship with him, or identify God. Is God Jehovah or Vishnu? Allah or Zeus?

Those of you who do believe in God, do you realize how blessed and fortunate you are? You have been granted spiritual enlightenment and understanding denied the overwhelming majority of all mankind!!!! People better and wiser than you have been left to struggle in the darkness, living out their short lifespans and dying never having an inkling God even exists, not a glimmer of divine light and understanding ever given them even once at any time.

But the great, supremely wise Creator has a plan. And, believe it or not that plan includes Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan. It includes every last one of those impressionable, gullible youths who embraced atheism thanks to the best-selling books penned by the two fools Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan.

To be continued….

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley